From Our Files: Moments from Hawai‘i’s Past–September Edition

A look back at Honolulu from September 1936 to 1996. Stories taken from the archives of Paradise of the Pacific and HONOLULU Magazine.

By Katrina Valcourt

Published: 2016.09.29 10:49 AM

OUR HISTORY

In 1888, King Kalākaua issued a royal charter, commissioning a magazine. Then titled Paradise of the Pacific, this publication became HONOLULU Magazine, making it the oldest magazine west of the Mississippi.

1936

“A few more Japanese in Hawai‘i nei wouldn’t affect the status quo very importantly, but they cannot, at the present date, be imported even by paying a customs duty,” writes Paradise. A few Japanese aliens found this out after being held by the Federal Immigration authorities for allegedly plotting to smuggle more aliens into Hawai‘i. “This is reported to be the first known attempt of the kind.”

1946

On Sept. 30, the Honolulu School of Art (since renamed the Honolulu Museum of Art School) will open. “Beyond economic and technological factors, art is the record and memory of an era and in the long run a community is judged by the richness of the cultural life it has fostered and produced,” the magazine says. Teachers will be locally and internationally acclaimed, including architect Alfred Preis, who designed the building (as well as the entrance to the Honolulu Zoo and the USS Arizona Memorial).

1966

1986

Some numbers from Dataline Hawai‘i

$154,448

Average monthly household income in Hawai‘i:

$2,636.50

1971

“If the Rainbow Tower leaned like the one in Pisa and blared music by the hour, would you say it’s a liltin’ tiltin’ Hilton?”

1996

Ryan Ozawa, a 21-year-old UH student, founds the Hawai‘i NewsList. He and 10 other writers produce mini news reports five days a week for expats who miss the Islands. Former Honolulu DJ Ron Jacobs says the NewsList “ends his need for expensive newspaper subscriptions and updates him on local news as fast as—but cheaper than—a long-distance phone call,” HONOLULU writes. Ozawa has 2,100 subscribers. In 2016, he is the co-host of Bytemarks Café on HPR, has 22,000 followers on Twitter and maintainshawaiiweblog.com.

1921

1936

1971

Learn more about the evolution of covers in HONOLULU Magazine and Paradise of the Pacific: 125 Years of Covers, available at shop.honolulumagazine.com.